Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has backed Ethan Nwaneri to move into a new position in a couple of years and has commented on the January transfer window.
The 17-year-old is having a breakout season for his boyhood club and there have been calls for him to feature more regularly in the Premier League.
The attacking midfielder has impressed in the Carabao Cup, scoring three goals in matches against Bolton and Preston. Despite this, he has only been on the pitch for 104 minutes in the Premier League.
Nwaneri came on for the final 28 minutes in Arsenal’s 0-0 draw against Everton on Saturday as he replaced Martin Odegaard.
The teenager has been used as a right-winger, No.10 and centre-midfielder this season. During Arteta‘s latest press conference, he was asked ‘what position Nwaneri could develop into’. He responded: “Nine. When he’s got the goal in front of him, he just looks at the goal. He has a tremendous ability to put the ball into the back of the net.
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Nwaneri is likely to start for Arsenal on Wednesday night as they host Premier League rivals Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Ahead of this game, Arteta was asked whether Nwaneri and Odegaard can play in the same team. He answered: “Depending on who they are surrounded by and depending on which position Ethan can play.
“He can play right attacking midfielder, he can play left attacking midfielder, he can play right winger, there is another position that I think he can develop into in a few years time, so there are options here.”
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The January transfer window is only around the corner and Arsenal could look to make signings as they are six points adrift of table-toppers Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
Arteta has admitted that Arsenal’s January transfer plans “depend” on three factors. He said: “It will depend on what player it is, the value of that player, if there is any other movements in the squad or not, so it’s very difficult to answer.
“I fully trust the squad and our players, and the amount of situations and things we generate in the match, how little we concede. I fully trust my players.”
On Palace, he added: “Very tough – when you look at the last results and the approach that they have, the quality of the individuals that they have, how they are coached as well.
“It’s always really tough, it’s another layer of difficulty as well when you play a team twice in four days, so we have prepared for that.
“We’ll decide that in the morning in relation to how the squad is, obviously the relevance of the match and where we are in the quarter-finals, it becomes a very important match. We’ll decide the best team to win it.”